Trading lush arrangements for raw intimacy, Marissa Nadler’s tenth album ‘New Radiations’ distills heartbreak, myth and memory into something hauntingly direct.
Stream: ‘New Radiations’ – Marissa Nadler
For her tenth studio album, New Radiations, Marissa Nadler strips her music to its barest elements, revealing a world of faded memories, unspoken regrets and quiet strength.
Self-produced and intensely personal, New Radiations offers perhaps the purest glimpse yet into the core of Nadler’s songwriting – heartbreak, myth and escape distilled into something immediate and unadorned.
“I’ve spent a good amount of time in the past several years really honing my skills in terms of recording,” Nadler says. “It’s been very rewarding. The songs just ended up closer to my original ideas without a lot of outside influence.”
That autonomy pays off in spades. Where her previous records shimmered with lush arrangements and gothic grandeur, New Radiations draws its power from restraint. Acoustic guitar, ghostly synths and fuzzed-out textures orbit quietly around her voice – still haunting, still unmistakable, but somehow even more exposed. Inspired in part by the stark brilliance of albums like Nebraska and Blue, Nadler aimed for something simpler, but no less affecting.
“I like my songs to transport people, and myself, to different times, places and dimensions,” she says. “The songs are often vignettes, stories – and stories have details.”
On New Radiations, those stories are steeped in rich imagery – spaceships, motel murders, goddesses and satellites – but always grounded in emotion. It’s a record that drifts through worlds, both real and imagined, tethered only by Nadler’s voice and the ache of lived experience.
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:: stream/purchase New Radiations here ::
:: connect with Marissa Nadler here ::
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:: Inside New Radiations ::
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“It Hits Harder”
Atwood Magazine: “I will fly around the world just to forget you” is such a powerful opening line. Was that the starting point for the song or something that revealed itself later?
Marissa Nadler: Thank you. It actually, in this case, was the starting point for the song. I was initially inspired by a few different aviators – just to get up into the sky. The song’s not about flying, but a great escape. I came up with the guitar part a while ago – that pull off. But when I wrote the lyrics, that’s how I started it.
There’s a feeling of escape in the lyrics – travel, distance, forgetting – but the sound feels like you’re stuck in the memory. Were you trying to explore that tension?
Marissa Nadler: Yeah. I think through these songs I’m definitely working through some of my personal memories, relationships and people that I’ve known.
“Bad Dreams Summertime”
Have you played it live yet? I imagine the line “Right place but wrong time to scream” hits hard in a room – it feels like one of those cathartic lines that people might want to shout back at you.
Marissa Nadler: I haven’t played it live yet. The first time will be at the Rough Trade Below NYC record release on August 16th. I’m looking forward to playing all of these songs live.
“You Called Her Camellia”
The lyrics are wrapped in regret. Can you share who this is about, without giving too much away?
Marissa: It’s a heartbreak song – detailing what’s left behind. I imagined a lonely old man going over and over the past, unable to move on, stuck in the memory of Camellia. “This wasn’t the deal” – it’s kind of the risk we all take when we dive into love – that it falls apart.
“Smoke Screen Selene”
Speaking of lyrics wrapped in regret … there’s this devastating line, “Don’t let her destroy you like I did.” It feels like it’s wrapped in guilt, maybe even a warning. Can you talk about where that lyric came from, and who Selene is in the context of the song?
Marissa Nadler: Well, it’s a personal song. I use a lot of names and characters as lyrical devices, whether or not I’m talking about myself or my life or something fictional. The lines between reality and fantasy are always a bit blurred in my songs, but this one definitely comes from first person experience.
Selene is the name of the moon goddess in Greek mythology – was that reference intentional? Do you often find yourself drawing on myth or archetype when writing about emotional experiences?
Marissa: That’s what we call a happy accident in art school! I like that astute observation. Someone, namely Vish from the Kreative Kulture podcast, pointed out, for instance, that the first song, “It Hit’s Harder,” starts off in a plane. Then, in “Bad Dreams Summertime,” there are these lines “I braced for impact and I went down.” When I put the two songs together, I didn’t intend it- but the narrative thread works. He asked if the plane crashed. I didn’t intend it, but I like that the songs and the narrative can be interpreted as a story.
“New Radiations”
The title ‘New Radiations’ feels both cosmic and deeply personal – it suggests something quietly powerful breaking through. What drew you to that phrase, and how does the title track set the tone for the rest of the album?
Marissa: To me, this is an “album” album, not really a collection of singles. Nevertheless, we had to pick one to start. I thought “New Radiations” was an apt name for the album, as the album deals a lot with the aftermath… We’re living in a very dark time right now, and the song details the emotional impact on the psyche, and trying to break through it.
“If It’s All an Illusion”
This song feels like it’s grappling with reality slipping at the edges – was there a specific moment or feeling that sparked this song?
Marissa Nadler: It’s another first person, confessional song. I don’t want to give too much away or assign narratives before people can make their own about the songs. But I’ll say yes, I often get lost in the ether between reality and other worlds.
“Hatchet Man”
The song has such a stark, almost cinematic quality, like something ominous lurking beneath the surface. Who or what inspired that character, and what were you channeling when you wrote it?
Marissa Nadler: “Hatchet Man” is kind of a short story song. I imagined the scene taking place at a motel, and vividly pictures the characters and the horror. It’s not your traditional murder ballad, as the protagonist gets away in a getaway car. There’s no lady in the river. The chorus is a very universal sentiment, and it contrasts with the verses. “I couldn’t make him love me only.” My narrator should have walked away from this dude a long time ago – far before the hotel murder.
“Light Years”
To me, this one captures that mix of melancholy and wonder that runs through New Radiations. How does this song fit into the larger emotional or sonic landscape of the album for you?
Marissa Nadler: The theme of solitude and heartbreak is a deep vein in this album. It’s very evident on this song. That kind of romantic love, when you’re hypnotized by someone, often fades into a more mature, steady love. You can’t really see “light years” inside anything, but I just wanted to exaggerate the immensity of feeling of both winning and losing in the game.
“Weightless Above the Water”
It feels almost like a moment suspended in time; delicate but heavy with emotion. What was the starting point for this song, and what does that title mean to you?
Marissa Nadler: The starting point on this song was reading about Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova, the first woman in Space, upon her return to Earth to the Star City. It’s about a lot more than that obviously. A lot of the female characters in this album are flying high, in planes, in outer space, on the highway… They are strong and gaining insight from different dimensions.
“To Be the Moon King”
This one feels like it was written for someone, rather than about someone. Is that accurate? If so, what were you hoping they’d take away from it?
Marissa Nadler: I was inspired by Robert Goddard, largely credited as the rocket king. It’s about inventors, artists and weirdos, toiling away in their back yards, scribbling in code, and trying to do great things. He never succeeded in his endeavors, but his discoveries led to people being able to get into space.
“Sad Satellite”
The album ends with this one, and it truly feels like closure. Do you want to talk about how this one came to be, and why you felt compelled to share a message about closure?
Marissa Nadler: That song is a pretty sad one. The whole album feels meditative. It’s an album that reveals itself on multiple listens, especially because of the stripped-down production. I really “interrogated” the lyrics, something my brother, Stuart, a novelist, implored me to do. I’ve lived long enough at this point to have real life perspective to write from. My early work was steeped in fantasy, and this record feels very “lived in.” Time passes, and some of these characters get closure- while others don’t. Some hover, suspended like an orbiting satellite. Others find their grounding.
Does it feel different listening to it now?
Marissa Nadler: I don’t listen to my own records after I make them. I’m sure you’ve heard that from other artists. I find the most satisfaction from the process of writing and creating the songs.
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:: stream/purchase New Radiations here ::
:: connect with Marissa Nadler here ::
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© Ebru Yildiz
© Ebru YildizNew Radiations
an album by Marissa Nadler
